The Adventures of Slug, Snake, and Fox
by BigMammaLlama5
Summary: T.T Bear with me in this summary... Years have passed and Naruto has joined the ranks of the notorious ANBU. Follow him and his new team as they plunge into the dangerous world in another dimension... and it was all their fault that they're there. NaruSak
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Mission Start

The quite of the early morning covered Konoha like a heavy blanket; a thick swirling mist flowed between the buildings. In the ghetto, an alarm buzzed, jolting a young ANBU officer from his slumber. One Uzumaki Naruto groaned and smacked the offending clock off of his bedside table and onto the floor with a loud clank. Whimpering in annoyance, he sat up and let the covers pool in his lap. Naruto slouched in a stupor and rubbed the sleepers out of his eyes. He yawned loudly and violently scratched his whole head trying to chase the sleepiness away. It had been a good dream, he and Kyuubi were fighting in an epic battle to save Sakura, and only to be denied the 'thank you kiss' by his alarm. How typical. He had decided in the past years to leave her alone. She had never shown any feelings for him other than the kind an older sister would give. He had tried to move on, but she had him hooked. The only thing he could do for her was give her the support and friendship she desired, he had stopped asking her out over two and a half years ago when he walked in on her a Sasuke. That was a hard blow, and he struggled to get past it. He did… for the most part.

**Stop complaining and get up already. I'm hungry.**

_Yeah yeah… just gimmie a minute will ya?_

Naruto kicked the sheet and blanket off, setting his feet on the cool hardwood floor of his apartment. He stretched his hands high above his head and twisted his back, grunting as satisfying pops and cracks escaped his joints. He yawned again and tried to swallow the morning breath away as he slowly rose to his feet. After a quick shower Naruto felt slightly better, and dressed himself in his uniform. The regular black form fitting pants and sleeveless shirt, and tossed the rest of his armor and sturdy porcelain fox mask onto his newly made bed.

_I'll put that on later…_ He thought.

**Fooooood…**

_Awe shaddup. I'm hungry too._

**You took longer than a minute…**

_Stop whining, that really doesn't suit a former demon king._

**Yeah…FORMER. Now feed me.**

Naruto sighed in exasperation as his prisoner continued to whine at him. Who ever thought the great Kyuubi no Kitsune would stoop to acting like a five year old? It dumbfounded Naruto every time. The Kyuubi no Yoko acted more and more like a spoiled house cat as time went by. He trudged into his small kitchen and pulled out a box of bran cereal and a bowl. He located a spoon, pulled out his milk, and dug in with the enthusiasm of a sloth.

After finally reaching the rank of Chunin at the age of seventeen, he dedicated himself to his training. After honing his Sage skills he learned from the toads after Jiraiya's death, as well as his own techniques, he climbed to the rank of Jonin shortly after his eighteenth birthday. Now at the tender old age of twenty-one, Naruto was accepted into the ANBU program just over a month ago in early March. Because he still had that bright yellow shock of wild unruly hair, he had to wear a black skullcap to keep his identity safe, orders not from his Captain but Sakura and Sasuke.

Every time he was out and about off duty, all the older citizens and shinobi would mistake him for his father, Namikaze Minato. To say he was the spitting image of his father would be an understatement. He had the same hair, same build, and same ocean-blue eyes; though to honor his mother, he kept his last name. His whisker marks had darkened, and his pupils had been reduced to slits about three years ago. The seal on his stomach had disappeared as well, all of these were results from when the Fourth's seal failed and the Kyuubi no Yoko refused to leave Naruto's body. So they were one now, it was really creepy too. After completely merging into Naruto, Kyuubi had taken a strong liking to him, even if he denied it all the time. They got a long quite well, only getting into internal fights every other day or so. Unfortunately, this new development had meant a few more social problems for poor Naruto. The anti-Kyuubi die-hards gave him a rough time at first; but he had gained respect as a shinobi and fellow Konoha resident now, and those die-hards had quickly been silenced.

**Hey Kit, we're going to be late if you don't scarf.**

_Huh? OH!! Damn it…_

Naruto emptied his bowl of cereal goodness into his mouth and put it in the sink after rinsing it out. He moved quickly into his bedroom, brushed his teeth, and strapped on his shinobi boots, armor, mask, Katana, and other assorted weapons. He glanced at the clock on the floor and flinched.

_Awe shit, Hedeki-taichou will be pissed…_

**Don't worry Kit; it's only 4:27 am. You still have three minutes.**

Naruto groaned in frustration and sped out of his house and locked the door simultaneously. Maybe if he tried his father's Flash step again…better not. Last time he ended up on top of his only female teammate in a very provocative position…that did not end well.

01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

Lightly huffing and puffing, Naruto landed softly in a swirl of leaves; his other two team mates and Captain standing stiffly in a group a few yards away.

"Uzumakiiiii…" The tall powerful man with a bear mask growled.

"Um, sorry Taichou…" Naruto shrank into his cloak.

"About time you idiot… Now, let's get this over with. Remember, this is purely a reconnaissance mission, I will authorize force if needed." The captain turned his face to Naruto, "Understand?"

"Hai!"

"Good. Slug, Snake, brat, let's move."

Naruto inwardly grumbled at his Captain's last jab, but quickly forgot as he followed his team out of the West Gate. Watching the backs of his other two teammates, he briefly remembered how Tsunade had been able to keep his former genin team together. Sakura served as their field med-nin, and Sasuke was their genjutsu specialist; Naruto was the team's powerhouse. Thinking back, Naruto thought it was simply amazing how they had gotten Sasuke back. In fact, they had just given up on their mission to save him when he came crawling back to Konoha. To say that he realized the error of his ways would be somewhat of an understatement, and a bit left of center. The truth was that he was lonely and homesick. Itachi was dead and he felt remorse, this of course was made worse when Uchiha Madara had been so nice as to explain to Sasuke that Itachi had been in the right the whole time. Hell, if Team Hebi hadn't died by the hands of Akatsuki after messing up their mission to retrieve the eight tails, Sasuke would still be a missing Nin. Madara had let him escape, barely alive, bearing a message that they would be coming for Naruto, but they didn't say when.

Their team was ANBU's special tactical field team, made especially for combative situations and all the dirty work. They had a fairly steady flow of work, most of if ending in dead ends or just turned out to be something completely stupid and pointless—but it did keep them on their toes. His thoughts wandered to Sakura as they flew through the treetops, watching the cold morning wind whip her cloak out from her petite form. She had stopped crushing on Sasuke after Naruto became a Chunin, focusing more on her work and being the friend that he and Sasuke desired.

_Well, I wish WE were more than friends…_ He thought gloomily.

**WATCH IT KIT!!**

Naruto looked up and nimbly flipped over a large branch he was about to smack into; then put on a burst of speed to catch up with his team.

_Sorry._

**Just watch where you're going, we're already in deep shit with your captain.** The Kyuubi grumbled at him before curling back up in his corner of Naruto's mind.

Naruto sighed; it was just like him to be distracted before a mission, he sure was forming a bad habit. They traveled on in silence for a few more miles, drawing close to the border between the Land of Fire and Oto. There had been strange disappearances all along the border, and they were going strait to the epicenter. The team of silent ninjas settled into the tree tops right across from a run down check point as the first weak rays of sun shot across the sky.

"That shouldn't be like that, that was one of our stronger check points…" Hedeki-taichou trailed off quietly.

"Want me to take a look Taichou?" Naruto asked.

The bear-masked ANBU thought for a moment before giving his youngest soldier a curt nod. He disappeared with the slightest stir of the leaves around him, reappearing in the shadows of the dilapidated building. Hedeki caught Sasuke's attention and gestured for him to follow his teammate with his sharingan. The snake-masked ninja brought up his right hand in front of his face in the basic hand sign, a partial fist with his pointer and middle finger pointing up. There was a small pulse of chakra and then nothing, indicating that his kekki genkai had been activated. Down in the shadows, Naruto crept along, using his advanced sight, smell, and hearing to pick up any clues. After a quick and thorough search around the perimeter he straitened up and looked up to his team, who immediately joined him.

"Report."

"Human traces were left behind from the check point guards, but something's not right. I found trace amounts of foreign chakra and evidence of a struggle. I've come to the conclusion that this was an intentional attack on our outpost."

"Shit, just what I didn't want to hear." Hedeki sighed. "Well, let's glean this so we can get back."

His order was met with three quite "Hai Taichou."s and the team split up to learn as much as they could. Naruto pushed aside some low shrubs to find a bleached skeleton wrapped in rags. A rusted Konoha hitai ate was partially buried under the disintegrating skull. Fear and anger made his chakra level spike, immediately bring the rest of his team to his side.

"Fuck…" Came a soft curse from a slug-masked Sakura.

"Damn, we need to finish so we can report this to Tsunade-sama. Naruto, get that hitai ate. Sasuke, help me continue the search. Sakura, pack up the remains in a sealing scroll."

The ANBU nodded and set about their tasks quickly and efficiently. Sasuke and Hedeki split up and continued their search while Sakura pulled a sealing scroll and field camera from her pouch.

"Naruto, please set up the scroll while I document the remains."

Naruto took the small scroll from her and set it on the ground. He gathered chakra in his fist and gently tapped its stamped seal, whispering "Kai."

There was a small poof of smoke and the newly transformed scroll appeared. Naruto picked it up again, weighing it with his hands. It was roughly five feet long with a diameter of about a foot and a half. He flipped it around like a baton as the soft clicking of Sakura's field camera echoed with the soft patting his hands made on it.

"Okay, Hedeki-taichou, here's the camera." She flipped it over her shoulder into the bushes to be met with a soft "Thanks." Naruto heard more quite clicking as he documented the run-down out post from an aerial view.

Naruto hefted the scroll once more and gave it to Sakura. She unfurled it with a loud snap and laid it out next to the remains of their anonymous fellow shinobi. The inside of the scroll had a light grid drawn onto it with red ink under the black calligraphy of the storage seal. Sakura began her painstakingly slow process of moving the remains onto the scroll in the exact layout they were found in, making small notes off to the side of the moved pieces. Naruto waited patiently for his part of the job, which happened to be the most dangerous. Yes, it seems absurd, but Naruto isn't just the powerhouse of the squad, he's also a specialist on seals and traps. Who knew that Konoha's most unpredictable and knuckleheaded ninja would have the diligence to become the next rising seal master and trap specialist? But it was true, after Jiraiya died in his fight against Pein; Naruto received a good bit of his belongings, the more personal ones going to Tsunade. The poor fifty-nine year old woman still used her genjutsu for her looks, but she was nearing the time in her career to step down and pass on her mantle.

Naruto wished that he would be her successor, but he knew that he still needed to improve his skills and gain more knowledge. He sighed and watched Sakura handle the brittle oxidized bones with small delicate hands. Naruto studied her graceful movements that held the preciseness of a surgeon. Over the years she had climbed up the shinobi ranks like he had, and became the assistant head of the hospital under Tsunade. She had also changed physically of course, enough to distract Naruto every once in a while. Her body was long and lithe, well developed and strong. She still had her long legs, but her breasts had definitely gotten larger. Fortunately for her back, they weren't nearly as large as Tsunade's puppies, which made her very happy. According to her (and to Naruto's risqué day dreams), a small C cup was the way to go. Sakura's arms, legs, and stomach were well toned from her constant training, and her skin was the same cream color she had always been. The features of her face had slightly changed as well. Her cheek bones were more defined, and her lips a little fuller. Her eyes were the same dazzling green framed with long dark lashes. The change that Naruto liked the most was her hair. As she matured it had gotten darker in color, and she had adopted and hairstyle mixed between her short hair and Tsunade's pigtails. Ino still teased her about it, but to Naruto, it just made her look more sexy and exotic, and he had let her know that on more than one occasion. For some reason she never hit him when he would say that, and it still baffled him. Unfortunately for him, most of her hair was pinned up in a bun at the back of her head to stay out of the way.

Naruto quickly snapped out of his reverie and watched Sakura place the last bone it its rightful place on the sealing scroll. Now all that was left was for him to do was check the hitai ate for curses and traps. He knelt down next to it and gathered chakra around his hands like a protective shield. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a poof of smoke as Sakura sealed the remains into the scroll. He heard her whisper the command for the scroll to shrink again, then left to give it to Hedeki. He sighed and focused on the forehead protector, probing the surrounding area for jutsus or genjutsus. After a few long moments he concluded that the hitai ate was just a rusty piece of metal. Naruto dug his long fingers into the soft soil around the metal plate like shovels, and lifted it up, letting the dirt sift through his fingers. He felt Sakura's presence behind him and turned to look at her.

"False alarm."

He heard an audible sigh from her and received a few nods of the head. He shook and dusted the rest of the soil off as gently as he could, the thing looked like it would disintegrate at any moment. He held it delicately between his right thumb and pointer fingers, and held it out for Sakura to take. As her hand touched the hitai ate, a small shock went up Naruto's arm. It startled him and he tried to jerk away, only to find that his fingers were stuck, and a startled Sakura stumbled into him.

"Naruto cut it out! Let go of it so I can give it to Hedeki-taichou!"

"I'm trying! My hand is stuck!" He exclaimed.

Sakura snapped her attention up to him, "What do you mean you can't let go?!"

"That's just it! I can't!" And to add emphasis to his statement, he shook his hand but to no avail, her arm mimicking his movements.

She growled in frustration. "I though you said it was clean!"

"I did! I just haven't heard of something like this before! There isn't any kind of chakra or seal that I can disrupt!"

"Dobe, what's going on?"

Naruto and Sakura both spun around to find Sasuke staring at them with his arms across his chest.

"We're stuck." He stated rather bluntly.

"It's your fault…" Sakura grumbled.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head in frustration before approaching them. He grabbed both of their hands and pulled, muscles bulging and straining in all their arms as they tried to separate the two unfortunate ninjas. Then Sasuke's hand slipped and touched the hitai ate, covering Naruto's large hand with his.

"Awe fuck, now we're all stuck… And you're holding my hand!!" Naruto complained loudly.

"What the hell's going on here?"

"Hedeki-taichou, the Dobe here picked up this weird hitai ate and got us all stuck."

"Sasuke-teme!!! That's not what happened!!" Naruto whined back.

Sakura shook her head. _So much for maturity…_

Hedeki's shoulders slumped in annoyance, as he observed the situation. There was no way _he_ was going to touch the damn thing, three people was two too many.

"Well, let's get you idiots back to Konoha so we can figure this out." He grumbled.

Naruto slumped in defeat while Sasuke and Sakura sighed in exasperation, this was just not their day. Sakura and Sasuke pulled a brooding Naruto to the tree line and they jumped into the foliage.

"Kick it to high gear kiddies, I don't like this."

"Taichou, I don't think we should use chakra while touching this thing…"

"Oh what ever Naruto!" Sakura grumbled, forcing chakra to her legs.

"NO SA-"

Naruto was unable to finish the sentence, fire running through his body. He heard his two teammates scream in pain as the alien power shocked their systems like a fly in an electrical light trap. He felt himself falling, but didn't reach the ground.

**Kit, we're in trouble! Open your damn eyes!!**

Complying with the Kyuubi's wishes, Naruto cracked his eyes open. He saw nothing but the bright sky; the wind was whipping against his face, tearing at his armor and clothing. Quickly shaking off the initial shock from what ever had happened to him, he fully opened his eyes and twisted around in the air until he was spread eagle, slowing his decent. From this movement, he realized that he had the old Konoha headband still in his grasp, but Sasuke and Sakura weren't attached to it anymore. His stomach dropped in fear as he immediately started to search for his brother and crush.

"Naruto!!"

Sasuke dove down beside him, barely conscious from the dwindling pain, apparently they were transported somewhere when Sakura channeled chakra into her legs to jump. Sasuke started losing his spread eagle form as he slipped into the unconscious, forcing Naruto to grab hold of him. Looking below him, he estimated they were a few miles up, and then he spotted her. Sakura was roughly a hundred meters below them, tumbling towards the earth limply. Cursing loudly, he straightened his body and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's lifeless form and dove forward like a missile.

**Kit, when we reach her, I'm going to release as much chakra as I can with out seriously harming us to form a cushion. That way when we land it won't hurt as bad.**

_And it will keep them safe…_

**Only if you're willing to be part of the cushion…**

Naruto grimly nodded his head and straitened his body, attempting to fall faster. When he finally reached her, he flipped over onto his back and pulled her and Sasuke close to his chest. He gave a mental nod to the Kyuubi and hissed in pain as the evil orange chakra leaked from his pores and surrounded them.

_Not so much!!_ He yelled when he noticed their skin was starting to burn off, leaving raw bloody patches where their skin was exposed.

**Do you want to live brat?! Now brace for impact in 3… 2… -**

Naruto never heard "one" as they crashed through the canopy of the forest. He held his teammates closer as an attempt to try and shield them from the sharp branches that were slashing his body.

**HANG ON KIT!!**

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth, waiting for the ground to meet them. He fell through the branches then hit the forest floor in an earth-shattering boom. He felt himself be driven into the cool earth as gravity caught up with them, sliding across the forest floor, and hit something. Naruto slammed into a nearby tree, taking it with him. The impact knocked Sasuke and Sakura from his arms, and he finally came to a stop sprawled face down. The sweet smell of pine needles mixed with the metallic stench of his blood. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't respond.

**Hold still Naruto, the fall broke your back, let me fix it…**

_Sasuke and…_ He trailed off.

**They're fine, you saved them. Now stay still…**

Naruto heard a few pops and cracks, then he could move his head again. He struggled to lift his face and rested his chin on the ground, his cracked mask a few feet from him. He saw Sasuke to his left, and Sakura was behind a tree to his right.

_Awe… Crap… _His vision began to blur and darken around the edges.

**I believe we're safe for now, just rest and recover. Those two will wake up before you do.**

Unable to respond, Naruto let unconsciousness take him.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't think there's a need for a disclaimer; you all know I'm just a poor college art student who barely has time to breathe… I don't even know how I'm finding the time to write this… Enjoy.

Chapter Two: Wake Up!!

Tsunade was enjoying a nice dream; she and Jiraiya were young again and on a break from a boring mission. But in these dreams they never really got 'anywhere'… she would miraculously wake up before anything good happened. They were strolling down the main street in Konoha, but it was completely silent. They were the only souls there, and everything seemed to glow a strange sickly green. She looked up and realized the sky was the color of gangue green. She turned to say something about it to Jiraiya, but he was rapidly aging before her eyes. Tsunade looked on in horror as Jiraiya's skin turned from smooth to wrinkled and leathery, his eyes and the corners of his mouth drooped, his hair grew longer and scragglier, and finally, he transformed into his toad sage state. He stopped and gave one last weak smile to Tsunade and crumpled to the ground. Tsunade bent to help him, but he sank into the blood stained earth before she could touch him. She screamed silently and clawed at the earth, trying to get him back- but stopped short when she felt something hard slide through her chest. She coughed and looked down with wide terrified eyes to find a sword sticking through her shirt. There was no blood.

With a jerk, the current old and irritable Tsunade woke at her desk.

_Ugh… I haven't had THAT dream in a while…_ She thought uneasily. Usually when Tsunade has a nightmare, it means that something bad has happened, and it annoyed her to no end.

She leaned back in her swivel chair and sighed glaring at the mountain of paper work she had been using for a pillow. There were large amounts of drool on the first couple forms, smudging some of the ink so badly it looked like someone had decided to hold a big slobbering dog over them. Tsunade shrugged and let her eyes wander to her half empty bottle of dry sake and a dirty dish. She sighed and grabbed the small saucer, rubbing it gently on her pant leg to get it to 'semi-clean' status. Then pouring a generous amount, took a sip.

_SLAM_ "HOKAGE-SAMA!!!!"

The unfortunate Shizune just happened to be in Tsunade's line of fire… Her line of fire of the sake she spewed across the room that is.

"_Cough cough… _WHAT?!"

"Hokage-Sama! There's a situation!"

Her eyes looked past a disgusted Shizune and settled on an unmasked ANBU officer. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach when she saw who it was.

"What seems to be the matter Hedeki-taichou?" She quickly wiped her mouth on one of the ruined forms, infuriating poor Shizune even more. The ANBU officer was beyond agitated she decided; a creeping fear hung on the edge of her thoughts. The tall, dark hair-dark eyed man was clutching his mask dangerously tight.

"Set down your mask before you break it. What happened?"

"Well, Hokage-sama, I don't really know… It all happened so fast! We got to the outpost around Oh-seven hundred hours only to find it demolished. We were able to discover that it was an assault on our post, the buildings were gone and we found evidence of a struggle… And an unidentified body."

"Damn… Then where's your team?"

The officer paled and cut his eyes to the side, avoiding her piercing gaze. She squirmed for a moment then asked again in a firmer tone. The poor man took a shaky break and answered her in a small voice that was very unlike him.

"They're gone. Under the remains of the former Konoha shinobi there was an old metal plate from a forehead protector. As usual, Naruto thoroughly checked for any kind of trap but didn't find anything… so he picked it up. Nothing happened. So he held it out for Sakura to take to seal in the scroll, but when she touched it, something happened. They… it's very odd—"

"WHAT HAPPENED!!" She bellowed; standing so quickly that her chair tumbled over backwards.

"They got stuck."

Tsunade stared at the ANBU captain with wide eyes. She put her hands on her desk to support herself, she suddenly felt very drained… and angry.

"They. Got. Stuck."

"Yes Hokage-sama. Then when Sasuke tried to free them, he got stuck. It was like their hands had turned to stone, they couldn't more their fingers… But… then it happened. We were about to come back when Naruto said that they shouldn't use chakra to enhance their jumps…" He paused, watching Tsunade's face contort from anger to confusion.

"Hedeki, are they ok?"

"I… Don't know actually. Sakura being the stubborn girl she his didn't listen to Naruto. I felt her chakra flair, then there was a blinding light, and they were gone. Vanished without a trace. All that was left were strange ripples in the air where they had disappeared, but those too disappeared after a minute or two…"

All through their conversation, poor old Shizune was standing by flapping her plain kimono to try and dry it. But she froze when she heard the last part of Hedeki's strange report. She turned to Tsunade, only to rush to her side to catch her from falling. She had turned deathly pale and a sheen of panicked sweat stood out on her forehead, her hands were clammy, and it didn't seem like she could form coherent speech. Hedeki rushed over and righted her chair, then helped Shizune ease her into it. Tsunade felt her small sake saucer touch her lips, but she refused to drink. This was too big. It was too scary. She needed to be able to think clearly if a plan was to be put into action.

"We—we need to send out a team to see if any clue to their whereabouts can be found." She managed to eek out after a few shaky minutes.

"I'll get Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Neji here immediately." Shizune spoke quickly. She gave Tsunade a gentle pat on the shoulder and hustled from the office.

"Is there anything I can do Hokage-sama?" Hedeki asked slowly.

"Just… wait outside until the others get here please."

"Hai."

The ANBU left her side and softly shut the door behind him. Tsunade held her tears in for all of three seconds before letting her self break down on her much abused paperwork. She sobbed uncontrollably at the village's abrupt loss. Sakura, who was like the daughter she never got to have, had vanished along with Naruto, the boy she liked to think of as a grandson, and Sasuke, the boy who she had grown to love as a close friend. She let her tears fall because she didn't know what else to do. Three of the top ninjas in her village had just vanished. And they didn't have a clue how to get them back.

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To say that Naruto felt better after the Kyuubi fixed his back would be a complete understatement. His body ached in pain and his legs tingled, but he was able to wiggle his toes… That was a good sign. He felt feverish and weak, his mind in a foggy state. He tried to shift but all he managed to do was make a rock dig into his kidney. Naruto groaned softly in pain and frustration, and whatever was lying on his stomach made him itchy. He cracked his eyes open and waited for them to focus before attempting to see where he was.

"Naruto, try not to move too much please."

The soft voice came from his left, it sounded just as weak as he felt. He barely turned his head and spied a filthy and bloody Sakura kneeling next to his shoulder. Rich purple bruises covered her arms and her right eye. Nasty scratches and scrapes riddled her abused skin. There were a few raw spots that looked particularly painful… possibly from the Kyuubi's chakra? She almost looked like a tye-dye t-shirt he thought, especially when her skin was so pale. As she moved closer he noticed that she was having trouble moving both of her legs, which was strange since he had tried to spare her and Sasuke most of the damage.

"What… Where are we?" He mumbled.

" A hollow in the ground, a little ways from where we fell."

"How long was I out?"

"A few days…"

"Oh… Are you okay?" He asked feeling a little hungry.

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open slightly. She leaned forward and glared into his face.

"You broke your back and you're asking if I'M ok?!" she whispered sharply.

"I—well… Yeah…" he finished weakly. Sakura sighed and made her self more comfortable next to him.

"Crazy son of a bitch, of course I'm ok! I'm in better shape than you anyway." A wry smile graced her battered features accompanied by a delicately arched eyebrow. Naruto managed a crooked grimace of a grin in relief and sighed.

"Good… Hey… Why am I so itchy?"

"Sasuke and I covered you in pine needles to protect you from the cold. You lost more blood than both of us put together."

_Damn… If I thought SHE lost a lot, I must look like a fine mess._

**You do kit. I only had so much to give you after healing our spine. You broke your legs, collarbone, right elbow, and ruptured an organ or two. You're lucky to even be breathing right now.**

_Ugh. No wonder I feel like shit… Thanks Kyuu… Wait… "Our" spine?_

He heard a grunt in acceptance and dismissal, then soft snoring in the back of his mind. So much for getting an answer to his queries he thought wryly. He focused his attention back on a worried Sakura. She looked like she had stepped though a wood chipper. She noticed him staring at her and gave him another weak smile.

"Don't worry Naruto, I'll be fine in a few days. You will be too, and so will Sasuke."

"Where is Sasuke?" He mumbled.

"Here I am." A soft voice came from the direction of his feet.

Naruto saw Sakura visibly relax when he shuffled quietly to his side. Sasuke looked just as bad as she did, but the bridge of his nose seemed to be a little crooked and swollen. The injured nin eased him self down next to Sakura and they used each other to lean against. Naruto wished he was in his place with a small pang of jealousy, but he let it pass; he could stand to in this situation. If they both looked so shaken and weak, not at all like a true shinobi would be, then things must be really bad.

"Glad you're awake, now we can tell you what's happened." Sasuke sighed.

"Please do." Naruto teased, getting two grimacing smiles in response.

"Sakura woke first. She was able to get me up with out slapping me too much. We found this place quickly enough, but then we had to make a sledge to pull you here. It's just a hole in a rock wall, but tall aspens, pines, and hedges make it look like a thicket. It's a good place to hide out, and it keeps the elements at bay." He finished with a ghost of a shrug; Naruto noticed he was favoring his right shoulder.

"Hide out? Did you run into trouble?" Sakura chewed her bottom lip nervously, glancing at Sasuke for permission; he beat her to the punch.

"When I was out scouting for food and water earlier, I saw something from a distance that… I've never seen or heard of before. It happened when I was searching some bushes for any kind of nut or fruit when I heard this strange clicking sound. It sounded like gears working, but not… I looked up and saw this… Thing. It was about twenty yards off, and it looked to be about six feet high. At first I thought it was a person in a black cloak and mask, but the mask seemed to be a part of its chest and shoulders. The mask was white… Blank, with only slits for eyes. It stared at me and the clicking stopped, then it just… vanished in a cloud of black smoke. But maybe it was the smoke since the clicking picked up again and it sped away…" Sasuke trailed off with a worried expression in his dark eyes.

"That doesn't sound too good…" Naruto said after a heart beat.

"I'm just glad it hasn't come here." Sakura murmured.

"But that's the least of our worries for now… We can't really use our chakra in this dimension."

"What?! How?!"

"We don't know Naruto, I can't use any of my healing jutsus, and Sasuke can't use his Sharingan… Neither of us can do anything but Taijutsu… But for some reason we can climb a few feet on a flat vertical surface and use very small amounts to enhance our bodies… But that's it. It's like there's a limiter in the atmosphere."

"Huh… Never heard of something like that before…" He felt his consciousness slipping and his eyes began to droop.

"You keep resting. We'll wake you up every hour or so to check on you."

Before Naruto could answer Sakura his vision faded to black and he fell into a deep troubled sleep.

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Over the next few hours, or days (Naruto couldn't really tell as he spent most of the time asleep), he slept fitfully and lightly. His dreams were riddled with pictures or his dying teammates, large empty forests, and a strange person in a black cloak and white blank mask. These dreams and his brief moments of semi-consciousness ran together like muddy watercolors. He was able to pick out the feel of warm brackish tasting water trickling through his parched lips, some one gently putting pre-chewed food onto his lazy tongue and rubbing his neck to help him swallow, the strength returning to his limbs, two soft voices that soothed his troubled mind, a strange clicking noise once or twice, but mostly the itch of the long stiff pine needles.

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Soft light filtered in onto Naruto's face, gently warming his scabbed face. He would have rather stayed in his sleepy state in his mound of pine needles, but his bladder had other ideas.

**Get up you sleep whore.**

_Fine…_

**We've all been worried about you…**

_I didn't ask you to be…_ Naruto thought guiltily.

**Well, go ahead and get up, Sasuke's outside keeping watch.**

Naruto slowly sat up, his back aching with the small strain. He groaned softly and stretched the kinks out of his sore limbs. He was still wearing his long protective gloves and forearm shields; but they were in pretty bad shape too. He dismissed that problem for now. From what Sakura and Sasuke had said earlier it was hard to just find food and water. Not to mention there was some kind of smoke-monster-thing out there. He rubbed his crusty eyes and groggily looked around. To his immediate right an exhausted looking Sakura was curled up, back against his pile o' needles. She seemed to be completely out of it, so, with a little difficulty, he pushed all of his makeshift cover onto her. He decided he could spare some of his hidden emotion for her while she didn't know. He staggered to his feet; thin tendrils of tree roots brushed the top of his messy mop of dirty sunshine. Using the rough wall of the hollow for support, he slowly made his way out. The warm sunshine felt wonderful on his deprived skin, he sighed in contentment and leaned against a Birch right at the entrance.

"About time you got up Dobe." Sasuke dropped down from the tree he was leaning on.

"Teme…" He bantered. "Hey, where do I go to pee?"

Sasuke smirked at his bluntness and pointed to a thicket of shrubs and saplings amidst the taller Pines and Aspens about thirty yards from the hollow. Naruto grinned and hobbled off, strength returning more quickly now that he was up, out, and about. He returned a few minutes later and sat down next to the stoic Uchiha feeling greatly relieved. The two men sat in silence listening to the forest, and it didn't take too long for Naruto to become disturbed. Sure, it was quite, but it was completely quite. There weren't any birds to be heard, nor any insects or amphibians. In fact, the only sounds he could hear with his enhanced senses were his comrades' breathing next to him and in the hollow.

"It's so still because of that thing." Sasuke answered his silent question. "We think it chased away most if not all of the wildlife."

"Oh… That makes sense…" They sat in silence for an hour or so, just listening and watching. Finally, Sasuke broke the silence again, pulling Naruto from his daydreams.

"I… Heard you move your covering onto Sakura when you got up."

Naruto tensed with an unexplainable apprehension, but he recovered quickly. "I just did what any good teammate would do." He mumbled.

"Oh… Then why am I not convinced?" Sasuke asked in his monotone of a voice.

"It's none of your business Sasuke, I don't like her like that anymore." He snapped at his teammate. His tone was so detached he almost believed himself.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow and did his annoying "hnn" thing in response, trying to get a rise out of him. Naruto was about to smack him in the back of the head when Sakura emerged from the hollow yawning.

"Now what are you two fighting about…" She scolded them.

Neither chose to answer Sakura's question, and they both continued on about their own business, doling out the small pile of rations soon after. Naruto judged that it was about ten in the morning from the angle of the sun. He walked around the wooded area in front of the hollow, looking for a good tree to climb and scout. He settled on a fairly large and straight pine close to their new lavatory. He flexed his muscles then began his accent, quickly making it to the swaying top. Kyuubi, who had been silent since he first woke, stirred restlessly.

**Smell that?**

Naruto frowned and took a big sniff, then nearly gagged. There was something foul in the air blowing from the east, and the direction where the mountains began.

_It… Smells like Konoha after the Sand/Sound attack years ago… But WAY worse… _

**Aye… But don't you think that it doesn't quite smell like our city? It smells greasy to me.** Naruto took another hesitant sniff and cringed.

_You're right… Let's see if we can see anything…_

Naruto squinted into the sun and was able to make out what looked like a mound of grey stone. That also seemed to be where the stench was coming from, and it only looked to be about a few hours' walk, less if they ran.

**That's a damn big pile of rubble.**

_Tell me about it._

Without a second thought Naruto slipped from his perch and plummeted to the ground, the jarring impact resulted in a dull achy pain that shot up his spine and an irritated Kyuubi fussing at his recklessness. He forced his body into a long loping gate and arrived back at their shelter in a few seconds. Both of his teammates curiously watched his approach from their spots on the ground.

"There's a destroyed settlement less than a day's walk from here, if we set out now we can make it there before nightfall."

"Now why would we go to a place like that?" Sakura grumbled, massaging her legs.

"There might be survivors. This could be our chance to get home!"

"And the monster?"

"Sasuke, we're ninja. It'll be easy enough to stay out of sight so it won't see us." The two debated for a few moments before turning back to Naruto.

"We'll go with you if it's absolutely necessary." Sakura reasoned.

"I think it is." Naruto didn't know where these words and confidence came from, but they gave him a new strength to boost his weary body. He plopped down in front of them with a groan and sighed.

"What's our inventory?" He asked.

"All Kunai and Shuriken pouches accounted for, your hip pouch was torn to bits, and mine was torn. Our masks are a little damaged; the worst is Sasuke's with a crack down the middle. Your mask doesn't have any ears anymore."

**Awe man… I'm earless!**

_Oh do shut up._

"The scabbard to Sasuke's ninjato is cracked, and your ninjato snapped in half when you hit the ground."

Awe man… I'm sword less!" Naruto grumbled.

**Oh do shut up.** Kyuubi mimicked.

"We've been ale to fix what we could, but there was nothing we could do but tie your Ninjato together to keep track of it." Sakura finished.

"Well, better than I expected, but how about your physical conditions?"

"I think when I used chakra to jump before we "jumped" I did something to the nerves in my legs, I'm not entirely sure, but I can walk better than I used to. No broken bones, I have cuts and bruises everywhere, and a twisted ankle."

"Broken nose, dislocated my right shoulder, cuts and bruises." Sasuke quipped.

"Food?"

"Not much, but if we stretch it, about three rations."

"Okay… Well, I don't think this is gonna get any better, so should we wait a little or go after noon?"

"Now, twilight will set in at about around 20:00 hours." Sasuke supplied.

"Well ok then…"

Naruto hoisted himself to his feet with a groan and stumbled into the hollow with Sakura and Sasuke close behind. They strapped on their Ninjato and pouches and hung their masks around their necks, as there was no need for them at the moment. After one last check around their temporary settlement, the three shinobi set off to the east with out a look back.

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The small group had been trekking for close to two hours now; they had left their small part of the mountains behind about an hour and a half ago. They were tired and hungry, but had already eaten their rations for lunch. The forest was tall and elegant, but dangerously quite, making the nins anxious. Sakura had been gradually slowing down; her legs still weak from their jump to the new world.

"Ugh… Dammit… I need a break…" Sakura groaned, slumping against a tree.

"Sakura, we have to keep moving." Pleaded Naruto walking back to her.

"Then somebody fucking carry me!" She snapped, anger flashing in her eyes, hating to show weakness. She wasn't weak damn it!

**Wasn't expecting that…**

_Hush._

"Um… Well, really?" He asked hesitantly, his ears began to heat up. Wait, why was he getting all worked up? As far has he knew, she only saw him as a team mate…

"Yes Naruto, let me ride on your back." She said, exasperation edging her voice as she leaned further into the tree.

"Give me your Ninjato."

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when Sasuke appeared beside them, hand outstretched. Sasuke's face was blank, but Naruto could see amusement dancing in his eyes at Naruto's uncomfortable situation.

"Um… Ok."

Having no choice, Naruto unstrapped his broken sword and gave it to Sasuke. Clearing his throat nervously, he took a knee in front of Sakura, unaware that she raised an eyebrow to Sasuke at his nervous behavior. He also missed the smirk and small shrug because Sakura's arms loosely wrapped themselves around his neck. He felt himself blush when her chest pressed into his back and his heart rate rise when her legs settled around his hips, thighs gently squeezing. He hooked his hands under her knees and rose to his feet with ease.

Sakura noticed these small changes in his behavior, and grew a little embarrassed herself, which really confused her. She didn't really like Naruto like _that, _but she did like him as a close friend. A little worried that she might get flustered herself, she teased him instead to calm herself down. She put her lips to his ear, just enough to barely touch and whispered playfully.

"What's the matter Naru? I'm _just_ a girl…" She trailed off with a grin.

"Er… Um… I know!" He mumbled, his face rivaling a ripe cherry.

Sakura rested her chin on her left bicep with a giggle, giving him a gentle squeeze.

"I'm just teasing you silly." The response she got from the poor man was a nose sigh and a nervous chuckle.

Naruto forced himself to be calm, after all, since when did Sakura ask to be carried? The last time she was carried was probably years ago; this must be a low blow to her pride if he knew any better. But his task of calming down proved to be quite difficult. After all, when you're carrying the woman you've chased after most of your life, it would be quite hard to NOT pay attention to her. Especially when her lithe body was wrapped around yours, pressed up against your back. He felt tingly and nervous, it felt like his heart had fluttered into his throat, but strangely he didn't feel as uncomfortable as he had a moment ago. It was a new feeling, whenever he had seen her before his stomach had gotten the butterfly effect as he called it. But he had never gotten this worked up just from a little contact. Man was HE a virgin… Blushing at that last thought, he decided conversation was the best remedy to his annoying hormonal problem.

"So, you comfortable back there?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes thank you… I feel better already too." She answered quietly.

"That's good. Um… Want to swap injury stories?"

"Sure, why not." He felt her shrug against his neck.

This was the direction their conversation took, comparing injuries and bad situations. A few times every now and then Sasuke would chime in, but he mostly worried about looking out for the monster as they moved through the forest to the city of rubble. After a while their talking turned to more personal parts of their life, but by this time Sasuke had walked ahead, minding his own business and humming in a monotone.

"I was three the first time someone hit me." Naruto said quietly.

"That's terrible. Who was it? Once we get back I'll turn them inside-out!" Sakura grumbled. Naruto chuckled and answered, "He's already dead."

"Oh… Y'know, when we were little, I always wanted to go play on the jungle gym, but mom wouldn't let me because that's where you were."

"I always wanted to go play on the swings, to feel free in the air. I would sneak out of the orphanage at night just to do that."

"I had my first kiss when I was thirteen. After Sasuke disbanded and you left to train with Jiraiya. It was at a party… It was pretty bad." She mused with a grin.

"I… Um… Haven't had mine yet…" Naruto felt his ears burn.

"WHAT? You haven't been kissed yet?" Sakura said loudly, sitting up a little straighter.

"You don't have to shout it!! Geez…" He fussed, face burning in embarrassment. He knew that Sasuke would tease him about that later.

"Well, I used it as a way to get used to my job. Some of the missions I've had to go on I've had to get pretty comfortable with some people to get information." Sakura said in a matter of fact tone.

"How friendly is pretty friendly?" He asked hesitantly, and inexplicable feeling of anger and jealousy churning in his belly.

"I've… Run around the bases a few times..." She mumbled uncomfortably, burying her face in between her arm and his neck. He could feel the heat of embarrassment on her skin and nearly stuttered.

"Oh, so then, you're—"

"No Naruto, I'm not a virgin anymore." She supplied gently.

A blurred memory of her tangled in white sheets with a certain raven-haired teammate flashed before his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed the memory down, telling himself that he would worry about it later. For some reason, he felt very disappointed at her answer, but he knew that it was possible. After all, she was a kunoichi, and they were required to know how to use their "womanly-wiles" as Jiraiya had called them.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He said softly, trying to keep his voice normal.

"Don't be, I brought it up first. Besides, it's better to tell you the truth." This startled Naruto, since when was she so nice?

"Who are you and what have you done with the Sakura I know?" He demanded only to be teased by a smirking Sakura.

"What, just because I'm not beating you up doesn't mean I can't be civil. By the way, you should have known that I might have had to do that a few times."

"I know…" He grumbled, then he paused, "So, was it uncomfortable?"

"What was?" She asked, resting her chin on her arm.

"Well, _that._ Having someone in you…" He wanted to bite his tongue for that, but he was curious, and no one had ever really talked to him about it, he had been too wrapped up in his training. He nearly died of mortification when she started laughing.

"Oh never mind. Pretend I didn't ask that." He snapped, thoroughly mortified, his face beet red, and wishing he could just sink into the forest floor.

"Wow, you really ARE a virgin aren't you?" She teased. A soft "Yes he is" came from Sasuke up ahead, causing Naruto to stare at the ground so intensely he could have burned a hole.

"The first few times it didn't feel that comfortable, but it got better once I was used to it."

"Ok." He answered smally, wishing that they could just drop the subject.

Naruto walked on in silence, still wishing he hadn't let the curious side of him control his mouth. Sakura acted like nothing had happened, but inside she was just as embarrassed, but refused to let it show. After all, it was just Naruto, the boy she had known most of her life. The only boy she had been intimate with was Sasuke, but that was a while ago, and it hadn't even worked out. She knew that if Naruto found this out about them that it would break him for sure. So why was Naruto acting like an innocent little boy getting "the talk" for the first time? He was such a piece of work! He used to proclaim his love for her, constantly showering her with affection. But now he just gave her simple complements, he didn't even ask to go to lunch anymore! Was he growing up, or was he realizing that if his attempts hadn't worked already that there wasn't a point of trying anymore? Sakura didn't want to admit it, but she liked getting complements from him, she liked being asked out even if she didn't feel like going anywhere. She huffed in frustration when Naruto mumbled something along the lines of "Fuck, now Sasuke's gonna pick on me for the rest of my life".

"Well, you could just go get yourself laid and forget about it." She grumbled, quickly losing her temper with the pouting man.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a kunoichi, so I don't have the _privilege _of fucking on every mission!" He spat.

Sakura was quite taken aback by his comment, enough to lean back, eyes wide. Who was this new broody Naruto? "Geez, what's wrong with you?"

"If you had just found out something dirty about a person you used to like you'd be a little mad too!" He bit out past gritted teeth, an inexplicable anger coming over him.

"Well sorry if my job as a Kunoichi makes me do something no one wants to do!" That shut him up.

"You… Didn't want that?" He asked dumbly, realizing how stupid his comment was, not even knowing why he said it in the first place. Maybe Kyuubi was toying with his emotions? He'd have to talk to him later.

"Of course not you idiot! I was planning on waiting until I was married! Not like I wanted to cater to pedophiles…"

"Wait… Pedophiles?! When did you first—"

"I was fourteen." She cut him off. "But Tsunade-sama wouldn't let me do such a mission until I had at least done it a few times…"

"O-oh… So, who did you? Um—"

"Now _that_ is my business, and not for you to not know." She said firmly.

"Oh… Sorry."

Naruto traipsed on in silence, not as uncomfortable as before, but definitely feeling more awkward that ever before. He mentally beat himself up for a while, scolding himself for being so thickheaded. He mulled the new information about Sakura around in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it actually wasn't all that bad, making him wonder even more why it had upset him in the first place. The only part of him that didn't like it was the part that still liked her, the part that secretly hoped that he would be her first. It took him about half an hour, but he finally beat that side of himself into submission, letting his prankster side come out to ease the atmosphere.

"Kiba was your first wasn't he?" He asked, an evil smirk stretching his face.

"You prude!" She exclaimed, and then buried her red face into her arm. "How did you know?" She asked quietly.

"HA HA! I KNEW IT!!" He crowed, bouncing along a fallen tree.

"Shut up! If I had the choice I would have rather had Neji!!"

"Oh that's even BETTER! So why did you pick him? You into dog boy like that?" He grinned evilly over his shoulder, a bright red Sakura glaring at him.

"If you weren't my ride I'd _so_ castrate you right now." She growled, shooting daggers with her eyes.

"You shouldn't have said anything."

"Oh fuck off, you started it! Asking about all my business and junk…"

"We, you didn't end it…" He said defensively.

"Hey, can it. We're almost there." They heard Sasuke call.

Naruto sighed and loped up to Sasuke, Sakura tightening her hold around his neck as he leapt over a rotting log here and there. Thunder rumbled off in the distance, the air quickly taking on a dirty, greasy smell as they moved ever closer to the city of rubble. The tree line came up abruptly, causing the nins to backtrack quickly. Sasuke donned his mask and drew his ninjato while looking at what lay before them. What was once a metropolis now lay in ruins, skyscrapers had toppled over and crushed smaller buildings. Decaying bodies littered the open streets, and more were surely inside the rubble. Sakura slipped from Naruto's back and crouched down with a grimace; she also donned her mask and drew her Ninjato. Sasuke tossed Naruto his broken sword and eased forward onto the strange paved street.

Naruto and Sakura soon followed, testing the black pavement with cautious steps. The sunlight glinted off of their two and a half swords, reflecting it back onto the ground and their masks. Forming a triangular defensive pattern with Sasuke as point, they picked their way through the bodies and cinderblocks into the city. They put their skills of stealth to use, falling into single file and sticking to the shadows and moving deep into the city. The nins traveled for close to an hour while mentally mapping out their surroundings. The sun was setting and they were becoming anxious to find a safe place to camp when a thin, grey and aging man stepped out from a semi-erect building. They froze and shrank back as quietly as they could, this man looked dangerous. He was roughly 5'8" and his frame was thin and lanky. His dirty button up shirt was rolled up to the elbows and was halfway hanging out of his black slacks. He had his ratty jacket thrown over his bony shoulder and scuffed dress shoes poking out from under his baggy pants. He had a wild mane of salt and pepper and a short scruffy beard squaring his face. He had piercing blue eyes dulled with age and tanned leathery skin covering wiry muscle. But what made them draw back was the strange metal weapon he was carrying. It was about as long as his arm and in the general shape of a tube. It had a wooden piece fitted on the end that was up against his shoulder, but at the other end were two open ends of pipe.

"I've seen something like that before somewhere…" Naruto said quietly, barely a whisper.

"It's a gun. They had them in some of those distant lands we helped when we were genin?" Sakura answered.

"Yeah, I remember now. But I've never seen one like that before, it looks more sophisticated…"

"Shut up now." Sasuke hissed.

"_Hey come on out, it's safe."_ He called.

"What did he say?"

"I don't know Naruto, shut it!" Sasuke snapped.

"_Oh… Um…_ Heh-loh, I _Frank Sherman_. It safe now." He stuttered.

"Uh… Wha?"

Okay, here's the next chapter! I hope you guys liked it, please no flames! I would like to thank the following for reviewing my first chapter:

dbzgtfan2004

zaisuro

kidloco

Lazeboy

Kasek

But I would like to give special thanks to my beta Zaion Indulias for helping me so much with publishing this next chapter. This guy was so much help! So much in fact that I probably wouldn't be posting this right now! So anyway, I would like you guys to give him a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies! Or, you could just hit my Favorites and go read his story Konoha's Golden Viper if you haven't already, it's freaking awesome!! Once again, I hope you enjoyed!

Read and review or the Blob will get you!!! (^_^) Just kidding… Or am I?

O o

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| BLAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

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